1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to laboratory furniture, and more particularly to a vented laboratory cabinet.
2. Technical Background
Because stored solvents and the like can sometimes escape from their containers and release noxious, corrosive, flammable, explosive or even potentially poisonous vapors, it is desirable to store solvents and other chemicals that are capable of volatilizing into the atmosphere in a vented cabinet. Such vented cabinets have typically included an outlet port that is connected to a vacuum exhaust system that carries chemical vapors from the cabinet and out of the laboratory to prevent accumulation of volatile gasses or fumes in the cabinet. The conventional vented laboratory cabinets typically include a single exhaust outlet opening that is located near the top of the cabinet, usually either on a top panel or a back panel of the cabinet.
A problem with conventional vented laboratory cabinets for storing volatile materials that can potentially escape from their containers in the form of a vapor is that the vapors formed in the cabinet are not always effectively exhausted. For example, a vapor can sometimes accumulate within the lower or middle zones of a conventional vented laboratory cabinet having an exhaust opening at or near the top of the cabinet. This can especially be a problem when fumes cannot easily flow around the shelves in the cabinet. Accordingly, there is a need for a vented laboratory cabinet that provides effective evacuation of fumes from all shelves in the cabinet from top to bottom.
Another disadvantage with commercially available vented laboratory cabinets is that they do not allow selective access to a particular shelf or to a particular part of the cabinet. Therefore, with such conventional cabinets, noxious fumes from any part of the cabinet or from any shelf in the cabinet can escape into the laboratory when the cabinet door is opened to store a chemical on or to remove a chemical from a different shelf or different part of the cabinet. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a vented laboratory cabinet which minimizes the possible escape of noxious fumes while the interior of the cabinet is being accessed.